August 16, 2009

I’d love to say I live by the old saying “A place for everything and everything in it’s place.” Unfortunately, when they were handing out the “organizing genes” I must have been absent that day! In the last few years, I have tried to improve and have marginally succeeded.

My daughter takes after me in this department and I don’t think the word “organization” is even in her vocabulary! In her defense, she does work full-time (or during school hours), chases after the twins and has a good size home to take care of. Her husband does help out a lot, but she needed a system that would work for all of them.

Since school started, we needed to come up with some easy and practical ideas to get off “on the right foot” and formulate a system to keep up with all the paperwork kids bring home from school and keep her kitchen countertops uncluttered (to a degree). We also wanted a central location for their lunchboxes and backpacks and jackets. Surfing the web and blogland has proven a great way to get some wonderful ideas.

I found these cute little snap together boxes at Dollar General. They were only $4.00 each! I wanted some way to identify each child’s box and these were perfect because they have that metal plate thing on the front. I typed their names on the computer and cut them to size and slid them right into that slot! Easy peasy, no?

Here they are in the newly designated “work zone” in Shannon’s kitchen:

Next, I saw this old shabby looking board with coat hooks on it at My Sweet Savannah’s RMS page. Here’s what hers looks like:

I bought a 6’ pine board at Lowe’s and sprayed it Heirloom White. I then sanded it back in places to the bare wood but of course it didn’t look old at all. Took my trusty “tools of the trade” and aged it.

Here it is after I “aged” it. Now you can see my “secret” tools in the background….dishwashing sponge and old rags, who knew? I took the sponge, dipped it in my gel medium, wiped off most of it on the rags and just kind of slathered it on, no rhyme or reason, just went for it. I was pretty pleased at how it turned out. Does it look old and weathered to you?

I found two little plaques at T.J. Maxx that had some really neat hooks on them so I bought the plaques and used some of the hooks. Took the hooks off the plaques and sprayed them with el-cheapo flat black paint.

Here’s a close up of one of the hooks on the board.

We took it up Friday evening and hung it in Shannon’s long hallway coming off the garage. That way, when they come in every afternoon they will (hopefully) hang their stuff on the coat rack and off the floor where things tend to land. The kids were so excited they had their very own hooks!

Shannon was thrilled at how it turned out and I must say it looks pretty good! We got the collage frame at Kirkland’s on sale ($19.00) and as soon as we have time we’re going to put in some black and white pictures of her family. (Wall color is Latte)

I’m hoping the excitement will keep up and they don’t have any of the last minute hunt for stuff in the mornings!

I’m working on a couple of other projects for Taylor’s room that Shannon wants. A shelf for trophies, etc. and a bulletin board for her “girly” stuff. We picked up this old country looking shelf at a local flea market for $12.00. Sprayed it with Krylon’s Ballet Slipper Pink and we’re loving the color. Taylor’s bedroom is done in Victoria Secret colors….pinks and blacks….so I think this little shelf will fit right in. We’re also using a bulletin board that Shannon had years ago in high school. We are just going to paint out the frame and do something special to the cork.

I would love to hear about any ideas you’ve found that work for you that keep you organized and I hope you found some of mine helpful as well.

23 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Organization ideas that are not only functional but so pretty as well! Thanks for sharing. May I ask what brand of paint the "latte" is? I have admired it in your home and I know that my daughter would enjoy it for her home. Kathy

WOW- YOU HAVE BEEN BUSY!! I LOVE BEING ORGANIZED BUT....NOT HAPPENING LATELY!!! BUMOR-MY HUSBAND IS A PACK RAT-THAT CERTAINLY DOES NOT HELP-- LOOKS LIKE YOUR ON THE RIGHT TRACK. I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND THAT IS QUEEN BEE OF ORGANIZING -I MAY JUST HAVE TO HIRE HER!! THANKS FOR SHARING!!

This looks great! I wish we had a mud room or hallway to contain our school clutter. You remember how open our kitchen and family room is. We use those kitchen doors all the time, so we put hooks on the side of the kitchen cabinet to hold backpacks. The trick is getting the children to hang them there rather than dropping them on the floor and scattering their things through the family room.

I am more creative than organized myself, so it is a challenge for me to manage my home and family in that way. But another thing I am trying to do is to contain toy clutter. I got so frustrated with toys scattered all over the house. It was too overwhelming for the children to pick up, and it made it impossible for me to vacuum with their stuff everywhere. So my new rule is that all toys stay upstairs, and we have been paring down how much we have. I realized that if we have so many toys that the kids aren't willing to pick them up, then we have too many.

Once I get all of our toys issues solved, maybe I will blog about that. But right now, I'm sticking to what comes naturally -- the creative projects!

Thanks for the tip!I have a picture frame like that from Kirklands-great store-with photos of the 5 of us! I think I am going to make a hook rack like that for underneath. My 5 year old starts kindergarten in 3 weeks and it would be so helpful to have a place to hang his backpack!Thanks!

About Me

I'm a Southern girl who loves my family and home. Born and raised in the Deep South, I have a great respect for our heritage and try in my own little way to keep the Southern lifestyle alive and well! I'm happily married to a wonderful man and we have two grown children and four grandchildren who are the love of our lives! I hope you enjoy your visit to my Southern home and as we say here in Dixie, ya'll come back now, ya hea!